WRECK OF THE STEAM-SHIP CENTRAL AMERICA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 544, 20 January 1858, Page 3

WRECK OF THE STEAM-SHIP CENTRAL AMERICA.

Wt^i.«T\o 'r«P'*'WATTa..HOIfDJSEI» J-ITTsa cesf.

(From the ' Sydney Empire,' Dec. .21.)

The 'Boston Journal,' of Qct. 5, enters into full details of the loss-of the above vessel, with upwards of 400 lives, but the following will be found to contain the principal facts connected with' this sad disaster. A passeng*er, Mr. R. T. Brown, gives the following statement:—

" We left Aspinwall on the afternoon of September 3, about 4 o'clock; arrived at Hayannah on the 7th. Left Havannah the next, morning about nine o'clock. I did not go on shore at Havannah. The weather was fine. September 9, Wednesday morning*, the wind blew fresh 1 Sept. 10, Thursday morning, strong wind; at night very strong, almost a hurricane. Sept. 11, Friday morning, there was a heavy and severe gale. I sat from eight o'clock in the morning until twelve at noon watching the prog-ress of the storm. The steamer all the time kept head to the sea and acted handsomely, and never appeared to even strain, for there was no creaking noise of that, character. The wind was very strong, but the sea was excessively high. At that time she behaved so 'we'll that I made up my mind to wait two weeks for her at any subsequent time that I should wish to go to California. There is but one opinion on this subject held by all of the fifty passengers saved in the Ellen. Capt. Badger said that he never saw a ship behave better. The only apprehension I felt was that her machinery might give out" or ' become damaged. During !the morning the spanker was set, but in an hour it was blown away.

"At 12 o'clock I went down stairs; I was there hardly an hour when word was giyen to get all the buckets ready. Capt. Badger giving the order. At two o'clock all hands.commenced bailing. At this time one of the engines—that on the starboard' side—stopped; owing to the fire in its furnace going but. At two o'clock the. fire in the furnace on the larboard sidb j went out, and that engine, which had been; working but slowly ? also stopped." • The j reason was that they could.not get coal; on account of the water which had cornel in. After the fires went out the steamer< went into the trough of the sea. There were 'two"lines of buokets formed-.fromi the lower well hole, near the cabin, to thej deck—about fifty men in each line, besides, fifty men forward, who were bailing from' the well hole on the steerage side of the

steamer. We worked assiduously and laboriously, and succeeded in preventing the water from increasing upon us by the rapid use of the^e buckets. Until dark, the water in the hold was not so deep but that we could see the pig iron in the bottom, which was earned there for ballast. Near dark, it commenced gaining on us considerably, and continued to gain on us until she sank. The pumps aft on deck were entirely out of order, and would not draw the water. Men, however, worked them all night. During Friday afternoon they succeeded in getting up steam again for a short time. " September -12, Saturday morning, I worked six hours, only resting once or twice, but afterwards we discovered that no water had been drawn up by them, and that our labour was accordingly lost. The discharging pipe of the pumps is on the side, below the deck and out of sighthence their ignorance of the futility of their labors. I first took hold and worked three hours, but finding that we were not gaining.pn the water, we had them repaired. We then went to work again; in a few hours one of those who repaired them came to us and said that they did not work to effect. We then went to work to haul a rope which was attached to barrels, which were passed up and down through the skylight. The man who tried to repair the pumps said they were all out of order. The bailers were at work also all of the preceding night, and they worked faithfully, consisting of passengers fore and aft. I do not think any one slept that night, except some few who laid down from exhaustion.

"About three o'clock on Saturday a sail hove in sight. We fired a gun and placed our flag at half-mast. It proved to be the barque Marine, of Boston. We then considered ourselves safe. She came near and we told her our condition. She lay about a mile distant, and we sent the ladies and children in'three small boats to the barque. There were thus sent about 28 ladies. The engineer, Geo. E. Ashby, assumed the sole charge of the last boat, and as some approached, endeavouring to get in, he drew his knife and threatened

to stab any other one who should attempt to get into the boat—there*being four or -fiv"e~atrcatlyTii~ner; but watching his opportunity, at a convenient moment, he jumped into the boat and pushed off in a cowardly manner. Among the rescued passengers there is but one opinion, and that is, that the loss of the steamer is to be attributed to him in letting the fires go out. He is now on board the Empire City. "The ports of the Central America could not be closed tightly in the lower cabin, and the vessel leaked" very badly at the shaft, so much that the engineer had previously asked for blankets to stop the leak. One of our small boats was washed washed away on Friday, and two were stove in launching. " About dusk a schooner hove in sight, and passed us on the starboard side ; she was told our condition by the captain. Her captain replied l that he would lie by;' but on the contrary- the}' passed on, and we saw nothing more of them. At that time the storm was not very severe. We then had but one sail on our mainmast. The brig Marine was fast disapearing. She would have probably taken on board more passengers, but she was disabled in her sailing gear so that she could not control her motions, and had to run before the wind.

*'• We now perceived no hope of keeping afloat much longer, and nearly all prepared for the worst by procuring* life preservers and floating materials. Three rockets were discharged, and just after a heavy sea nearly broke over her, carrying- two or three hundred souls with it as it receded in to the ocean, of which number I was one. The life-preservers were mostly all tin, and were therefore not of much service, as a slight dent from coming in contact with a solid substance would destroy them. But few cork preservers were on board.

" I had, previously to our being struck by the sea, gone to the hurricane deck, and taking the square cover to the hatchway, tied ropes round it and carried it to the starboard wheelhouse, to be ready for use wlien she sunk. I had hardly got there when this wave carried me into the ocean; I had also a cork life preserver on, and held tightly to .one/'of;the ropes I had fastened to the hatchway. I went down and remained until nearly strangled. The sea was as high, then as at any time, but less windy. "When I came up and had freed my eyes from water so as to look around, the steamer had disappeared. The sea was literally covered with human beings and

floating objects. A fearful cry—almost 3 yell—-shrieked in my ears, which seemed to arise from them all at once. I succeeded in getting on. a piece of the hurricane deck) where I was soon joined by a companion. This was about 8 o'clock in the evening. We remained there all night tossed about. On the morning of Sunday rie saw a sail, and succeeded, in attracting' attention. At 8 o'clock we were picked up by the Norwegian barque, Ellen, we having been in the water twelve hours. '*' We were the last ones rescued. No others were in sight, and we saw none afterwards. Forty-eight passengers were already on board. At the request of Mr. Eastson, the captain had continued his search until he found us. Two hours afterwe met the barque Saxony, boarded her, and obtained two barrels of provisions." The transit of the women and children from the steamer to the brig Marine, was one of great difficulty- and danger. \ Mrs. Hams, of California, gives the following account:—»

" In the afternoon of Saturday it became necessary for us to leave the "ship. The captain came and said that the women and children were to go first. A noose was made on the end of a rope and slipped over me, and I was lowered down. The captain tied a rope round me, and I think he was one of the men that had hold of it when I was lowered to the boat. When I began to slide down, a great wave dashed up between me and the little boat, which threw the boat off the ship, and left me hanging in the air with the rope around my waist. I' was,, swung hither and thither over the waves by the tossing of the ship, until t;:e boats came under me. As soon as I got into the boat, I looked up and saw the captain was fixing a rope around my child, and in a few moments afterwards he lowered it down to nie.

"Even before I got into tlie boat, when I was coming up the cabin stairs with the baby in my arms, Captain Herndon saw that I could hardly walk, from the motion of the ship, and he requested one of the passengers to come and assist me, which he did. The captain's kindness to me and and all the ladies was unremitting, and in the end he sacrificed his life for us.

"I*was in the first boat that left the steamer, and I was the'third woman in the boat. It was the boat that was manned by the brig's mate. Ten sailors were in it, and one of the waiters who belonged to the Central America was ordered to assist in rowing. I believe there were six women and six children in the boat.

"It was a long time before we got to the brig. She was a great way off—l should think two or ."three miles. She did not venture to come near the steamer, for fear of a collision. It was impossible to tell what might happen in such a sea. I think we must have been two hours or more, in going from one ship to the other. As soon as we approached the "brig"near enough to get on board, I watched a chance to spring at the rigging and to get hold of a.rope. I had a'life-preserver on, which somewhat' encumbered me and almost prevented my escape. I caught the .rigging "with, triy hands, but my lifepreserver (under'my'.arms) was so large that I could not get between the ropes. I hung for a few moments over the side of the ship, in almost equal peril as when I dangled at the end of a rope over the side of the steamer. I w ras every moment expecting to fall, when the captain caught hold of me and pulled me in by cutting off my life-preserver.

"The stewardess of the steamer, who was taken off in the same boat that I was, fell into the water three times before she could be got on boardl She mentioned to me that she had been hurt between fihe life-boat and the brig while she was in the water. A wave dashed the small boat against the large one, and she was between them. A life-boat was swamped in this way by striking the side of the brig, but, fortunately, it was after all the people were out of it, and nothing but the boat was lost. The stewardess died next day."